Thank God for Mothers
by smile-lifegoeson
Summary: AU. Senior prom, college... it's all right around the corner for Natsu and his friends. The challenge of asking Lucy to be his date should be his main worry at this point in life. But with the reveal of a secret his mom kept since he was born, Natsu has to decide between staying and continuing life as it is, or leave it all behind for a future that he never knew was his.
1. I have a Brother?

Hey! I'm so glad that you all liked my first fic in a long while :) If you haven't read it, it's called Underwater! A nalu one-shot to get me writing again.

I said Ice Ice Baby would be my next update... but I need to re-read it and figure out where I was going. For the last few days this piece has been in my head. I wanted to get it out there! This is just the prologue for now, this is going to be a small chapter fic. At most 3 chapters in all. I'll see what you guys think after chapter 2 :)

 _Fairy Tail_ and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima

* * *

"I don't know…" a dark haired boy pulled on the collar of his shirt, avoiding looking into his friends eyes.

"What do you mean you don't know!" a beautiful blonde slammed her hands down on his desk, "Just ask her out!"

Natsu Dragneel rolled his eyes at the familiar scene. There was a big dance coming up and Gray refused to admit he wanted to ask his 'stalker' Juvia and Lucy was trying to convince him to stop being a baby about it.

"I'm sure Lyon is already planning on asking her," Lucy sat down and smugly crossed her arms, thinking she had won.

"Lyon is going with Meldy," Gray pointed at the blonde, "and what about you, huh? Do you have a date to the senior prom?"

Natsu's eyes widened, he turned around to avoid the conversation. He sat a few rows in front of Lucy and Gray. They were his friends, but due to his attention issues the teacher forced him to sit in the front row. So he couldn't join conversations that easily with them, but this time he was pretty thankful.

"I… don't have a date yet."

Natsu groaned quietly, he knew why too. Every guy that tried to ask her to the prom he scared off. But he still didn't have the courage to ask her himself.

Gray whispered to Lucy, "Why don't you go and ask Pinky?"

Natsu stiffened, " _WHAT THE HELL, FULLBUSTER?!"_

"Oh… um…"

The bell ringing could have either saved him from embarrassment of hearing her say she didn't like him, or miss the chance of her saying she wanted him to ask her. Whatever she said, he skipped out on as he ran out of the room.

"Watch where you're going, Natsu," he heard Laxus say to him as he passed Mirajane's locker. He was protecting her from his whirlwind.

"Sorry!"

"What's got yer panties in a bunch?" his locker mate Gajeel asked when Natsu landed headfirst into the metal door.

"Uh, nothing," Natsu knelt down to unlock his bottom locker.

"Don't look like nothin'," Gajeel snorted, pulling his leather gloves on to cover his rough knuckles.

Natsu sat down, ignoring his cousin's stare along with every person that passed him. He knew he was being odd, he was Natsu Dragneel after all. He was the top athlete for their graduating class and already had a full ride to Crocus University, Fiores leading school for engineering programs. He was the class clown who was never nervous or scared. But today he was both.

Because his long-time crush may or may not want him to be her date to the senior prom.

"Uh," Natsu stood quickly so he could catch up with Gajeel, "have you already asked Levy to prom?"

Gajeel snorted, "Hell, she asked me back before Christmas."

"Ah… gotcha."

"Why do you care? Thought you weren't going," Gajeel kicked the doors open for the two to go out.

"I wasn't going to…" Natsu had decided as a freshman he wouldn't do the cliché thing and go to prom. Back then he never dreamed of having a chance with Lucy. But for the last several weeks, Lucy had been dropping hints that she may just like him back, "but um, I may have found someone to ask…"

"Ya mean Lucy?"

Onyx eyes glared daggers into his cousins eyebrow-less face, "What?"

"It's obvious as pie that ya like her," Gajeel rolled his eyes, "don't know why ya haven't asked her out before."

They reached the edge of the parking lot, Gajeel stopping to dig for his keys while staring at his dumbstruck family member.

"But-but-but-"Natsu sputtered.

"Well, it ain't obvious to people who don't know ya. Hell, Igneel was the one who told me."

"Uncle Igneel told you that? WHY! I told him to keep it a secret…"

"Gajeel!" the boys looked back towards the school to see blue curls heading to them. Glasses perched on her nose and a backpack full of books neither of them could understand.

"Well, you better ask her soon," Gajeel pitifully patted Natsu on the shoulder, "or the poor girl will have to go to prom all alone, with all her friends with a boy."

"Hey guys," Levy skipped to a stop, glancing from the boys. One close to laughter and one close to slaughter, "what's going on?"

"Noting," Natsu jumped in before Gajeel could say anything, knowing he would in the truck anyway, "see you guys tomorrow."

Cursing his dumb cousin, Natsu ran over to his car, throwing his books into the backseat.

" _Damn it… what am I supposed to do…"_

"Hey Natsu."

"Lucy!" Natsu opened his arms up wide and tackled her into a hug.

"Geez, you," she laughed, there cars were parked next to one another. A privilege of being a senior, getting to have first pick on where you park. They had been one of the first to get a tag and thankfully got one right at the doors, right beside each other.

"What's up tonight? Your old man gonna try and cook again?" he snickered, Lucy's poor father had tried to make her senior year special by saying he was going to cook every night for her. He did good for the first month, but then started to run out of ideas.

"No," she unlocked her car doors and tossed in her bags, "He, Mom, and me are going furniture shopping. Going to get something on the way home."

"Furniture shopping?"

"Yeah," she blushed, leaning against the door of her pretty blue Chevy Cruz, "for my dorm room. Oh, Crocus University is going to be amazing Natsu!"

"Yeah it is," Natsu copied her and leaned on the door of his red Chevy Malibu, "too bad Gray is gonna be there too."

"Hey, don't be like that. I'm just glad that all our friends are going to be close by."

"Yeah, yeah," he smirked, "the only person you need to care about being around is me anyway."

"Right," she shook her head at the way he puffed his chest muscles.

"Whatever, we still have a few months," he glanced over at their 'home' for the last four years, "hard to believe it's almost over."

"Yeah, hard to believe we all survived," Lucy crossed her arms, "remember Mr. Holden in 9th grade?"

"Ugh! He hated me!"

"Because you blew up the chemistry lab on the first day."

"So what? He teaches every grade, he should have been ready for it," Natsu stuck his tongue out at her.

"Still, maybe you should have waited a few weeks," Lucy held her hair back as the early spring breeze picked up her long strands and tossed them around.

"He still wasn't as bad as Mrs. Keen last year," Natsu gagged.

"She was sweet, you and Gray just made her hate her job."

"She taught a pottery class and was able to make it even more boring than it was."

"You like art classes though, I still don't understand why you didn't like it."

"Who cares!" He lifted his fist up to the sky, gazing at the white clouds that flew with the wind, "in a few weeks we'll be done with this place and have a new round of teachers to annoy!"

"Yeah, that's true," Lucy fondly watched Natsu, "I really am glad we'll be together there."

Natsu smiled, "We'll always be together, Lucy."

Lucy smiled back at him, tossing her gaze down so her blush wouldn't brighten.

Looking around the parking lot, Natsu realized most of the cars around them were gone.

"So, uh, you and Gray were talking about prom in class," he saw her jump a little, "did he say if he'd ask Juvia yet?"

"Not yet, but I'm getting close. I'm going to text Erza tonight and see if she can talk to him in the morning," Lucy's arms came to wrap around her stomach.

"That's great, he needs to ask her…"

Lucy gulped, "And you? Who… are you taking?"

Natsu's breath came out shaky. How long had he liked Lucy? Since he was 13? He knew what type of guy she wanted, and that wasn't the kind of guy he was. But… he couldn't help but want to find out if he wrong.

"I haven't asked anyone yet," he took a step closer to her.

"Who… do you plan on asking?"

"I don't know… if she wants me to ask her."

Lucy's chocolate eyes gazed into his, "Would you ask… if you knew? I… can find out."

He braced one hand on the car next to Lucy's arm, "Who are you going with?"

Avoiding his gaze, she answered, "No one has asked me yet."

Natsu turned his head so he could watch her reactions, "Who do you want to ask you?"

Lucy bravely looked him straight in the eyes, tilting her chin up so she would be level with him. And right before he could hear her answer….

"Um, your phone is ringing," Lucy shied away again, losing all the confidence she had worked up.

" _Damn it, whoever it is, is gonna PAY for this…."_

Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen, "Mom?" she never called him, "Hang on Lucy… hello?"

" _Hi honey, where are you?"_

Natsu raised his brow, but lifted his arm to look at his watch, "It's only 3:30, I'm still at school. Talking to Lucy."

" _I'm sorry to interrupt. And unless it's important I need you to come straight home when you're done."_

She was never this straight forward with him, and usually she would be teasing him about Lucy and letting him stay and talk as much as he liked. "Everything ok?"

" _Yes, Everything is fine. I just have something I need to talk to you about."_

"Uh," he caught Lucy staring at him, he shrugged because he really didn't know," yeah, I'll be home soon."

" _Thank you, Natsu."_

"Ok, see ya," he hung up the phone, staring at the picture of him and his mom from a few weeks ago. A goofy snapchat filter of dog faces covering theirs smiled back at him. His mothers beautiful face scrunched up as she giggled at the view of herself.

"What's up?"

"I… don't know. She wants me to come home and talk about something."

"Then you better get going," Lucy snuck in beside him and hugged him, "text me later and let me know what it's about."

"Sure," he leaned his forehead against hers before letting go.

They parted ways and Natsu went as fast he could to get home.

His mother, Elena Dragneel, was his rock. She was the most awesome woman alive. She passed on her obsession of dragons to him, he got his love of fire from her younger brother, his uncle Igneel.

It had just been the two of them since the day he was born. She never spoke about his father, only said he was a loving man. Natsu never bothered asking. He didn't care, not after one night he heard her and Igneel talking. He was too young to understand most of it, but he remembered his mother saying she missed him but was glad she left. And Igneel said something about how much better off the two of them were. Natsu was thankful for his mother and if Uncle Igneel said they were better off, then he was better off not knowing.

His mom practiced sports with him, she played games with him, she hung out with his friends, she helped him figure out girls… he couldn't ask for a better mom. She was easy going, she could be a dragon herself when he messed up, but most of the time she was laid back.

The way she spoke on the phone… it was like another person was talking. She was too formal. Nothing like he knew.

Pulling into their driveway, Natsu saw his moms Toyota Highlander… and a rental car. He parked behind his moms SUV and got out. He slowly looked over the rental car. She didn't say anything this morning about company, the only thing she said to him this morning, or rather yelled at him to stop drinking the last of her coffee before she kissed him goodbye.

He shook his head, " _Must be a surprise visit or something."_

"I'm home," he kicked off his shoes and dropped his bag on the table next to his moms purse, their designated 'I'll need it tomorrow' table, "Mom?"

"Living room!"

He took a detour to the kitchen and grabbed an apple before walking into the room with his mother and mystery guest.

"Uh," he stopped walking when his foot his the white carpet.

His mom was sitting on the love seat, her black hair in it's usual sloppy bun on the top of her head. Same white shorts and paint splattered t-shirt she wore all the time. She sat like she always did, ankles crossed and one arm behind her and one in her lap. Across from her sat a young man,

His position was rigid, back straight and arms neatly in his lap with his hands clasped. His feet were firmly planted on the floor shoulder length apart. He was dressed sharply in his black slacks and pristine white button up. Natsu glared at his face, it looked like the guy was insanely bored yet intrigued at his surroundings at the same time. He had hair black as his moms, but a weird little point stood at the top of his head.

The man turned slowly to Natsu, a smile lifted the corner of his lips ever so slightly.

Elena coughed, "Natsu, come in."

Natsu kept glaring as he took a seat next to her. He saw something familiar in the man, but he didn't want to admit what it was.

"Hello, Natsu," he nodded in a polite gesture, "My name is Zeref Dragion. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The formalities disgusted Natsu, he hated this form of talk. So he retaliated in the best way possible, "Yo. What's up?"

He could see that Zeref was visibly repulsed by his responses. What he didn't get was the weird glance Zeref gave his mother, like he was mad at her for her sons actions.

Elena smirked at her sons word choice, not caring at all that their guest didn't like it.

"Natsu, Zeref is from Alvarez. He is going to be staying with us for the next few days."

Natsu turned to his mother and whispered, "Why?"

Alvarez is a small country to the north of Fiore. It was all over the news that the crown prince had just got married just months ago. Why someone from that nation would come here and stay with them was beyond Natsu.

Elena took a deep breath, knowing her next few sentences would change everything, "Zeref is here to talk to you Natsu. He wants to get to know you."

Natsu glared at the newcomer, "What for?"

Closing her eyes, Elena said, "He's your brother."

Zeref smiled, closing his eyes in joy, "I hope we can get along Natsu."

Shock didn't begin to explain what Natsu was feeling. He shot out of his seat, ready to accuse his own mother of lying. But he knew she wasn't, she wouldn't lie about something like that. Her face was covered in regret and sadness.

"My… brother?"

* * *

I so wish we could have found out more about Natsu's parents. His mother is GORGEOUS. And since Mother's Day is coming up I decided that this would be perfect to celebrate:) I'm sorry if this went a little fast. Next chapter will be longer!


	2. My Brother is a WHAT?

I know this is long overdue, but i'm hoping I can get back into the swing of things. Slowly but surely.

Hope you guys missed me as much as I missed you. Glad to be back!

 _Fairy Tail_ and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima

* * *

"So… you have an older brother?"

Natsu glared at the lunch table with barely open eyes, he didn't sleep a wink last night, "Apparently."

"It's strange your mother never mentioned him before," Erza noted as she went through her student council papers, "but she probably has a good reason, the same as why you've never met your father."

"Whatever, he's a creep," Natsu reached over and grabbed a handful of Lucy's fries and stuffed them in his mouth, "he just needs to leave already."

"Did your mom say anything else?" Gray sat across from him doing some last-minute homework.

"Did you even have a chance to talk to her?" Lucy asked, "Or did… Zeref… keep you occupied."

"I couldn't get away from the guy!" Natsu growled, just thinking about it made his skin crawl, "He followed me around all night. Kept correcting me when I said something wrong and telling me sit properly and BLEH!"

The whole table had looks of uncertainty, Natsu was known for not caring how others thought of him and ignoring directions of the like. His mother never cared much unless they were in certain situations. So having a long lost sibling say those things really hurt the atmosphere at the Dragneel home.

"Did he ever say why he was visiting after all this time?" Levy didn't look up from her dusty tome to question, "And how much older is he than you?"

Natsu growled, he was tired of talking about Zeref. One look from Lucy, a look of interest, had him actually answering.

"No. I asked a bunch of times but he said he'd explain later. And he's 23. Mom was like 19 when he was born."

Jellal, who had been silently helping Erza with her papers, looked up and said, "So he lives with your father in Alvarez? Why did they move there I wonder."

Natsu didn't question it. He apparently had family in Alvarez, his father was from there after all. She told him a long time ago that before he was born she had lived there with his dad before deciding to raise him in Fiore.

"Dad was from there, I think they met when they both went to CU," he his head down on the table, pleased when his cute crush started to play with his hair.

"Who gives a damn?" Gajeel had finally had enough of this conversation, he picked up his and Levy's trays before adding, "He's here, like it or not ya gotta deal with him. Only be a few days before he's back in his own country and your life goes back to normal. He probably just wanted to meet ya or some shit."

"Gajeel is right," Lucy leaned in close to Natsu, causing the pinkette to blush, "what harm is it in getting to know him? I know you don't care about knowing your dad but your brother is here wanting to know _you_. Give him a chance, it's only for a few days."

Pouting, Natsu thought about what it would mean to give him a chance. He might actually have to _go_ to Alvarez one day to meet his father. He didn't give a shit. And his brother is apparently married if the shiny gold ring on his finger means anything, so that means he has a sister-in-law he'd have to meet. Why would they care to include him after ignoring him and his mom for 18 years.

"I'll think about it," he didn't care about that stuff anyway. He was happy with it being just him and his mom. And all he wanted to worry about was how he was going to ask Lucy to the prom.

 _ **RING~RING**_

"Let's go!" Levy jumped up, the only one excited to go back to class.

"I'm not finished yet," Gray groaned.

"You should have finished last night, Darling," Juvia stated, "that is why it is called _home_ work."

"Yeah, yeah," Gray stuffed his books back into his bag and took Juvia by the hand.

Natsu and Lucy stared wide-eyed at the new pair. Gaping when Gray turned back and winked at them.

"Are they…?" Lucy whispered.

"I guess?" Natsu narrowed his eyes at his frenemy, furious that he didn't tell him the secret to asking out his long-time crush.

"Good for them," Erza approached to walk next to Lucy, "I was wondering when Gray would finally ask her."

"It had nothing to do with your threats, Erza," Jellal snickered and wrapped his arm around her waist. He smiled when his scarlet enchantress pouted at him.

Lucy sighed, she was surrounded by couples. Happy couples. And she was always next to the person she wanted to be with and yet there was nothing going on. She may as well ask him out…

Natsu gulped as he watched Lucy look around at their friends. He needed to act fast. He had asked his mom a while back about it and she had turned into a giggling mess because he finally admitted to liking her, so she was no help.

He thought about it all the way to class, he could always ask uncle Igneel again. But he was bound to just tell him to be a man. Same with Gildarts, Metalicana, or Silver… All the men in his life would just laugh or tell him to grow a pair.

Except…

He could ask Zeref?

It was almost as if he was struck, he jerked so fast, _"What the hell?! Why would I ask him ANYTHING?"_

Sitting in the front row he could hear Lucy's laugh from a few seats back. He felt his face get hot, she did weird things to him. His hands got all clammy, his heart raced, his attention span turned to absolute zero and he focused solely on her. He even spent his first class of the day drawing a picture of her staring at her book. He was way past the crush stage and well onto the love part.

Letting out a big breath of air, he realized he really needed to grow a pair.

* * *

Tiptoeing inside, Natsu used all the ninja skills he knew to get to his room without his brother knowing. His mom was still at work and it would just be the two of them for another hour or so.

He didn't see Zeref in the kitchen or the living room, maybe he was in the guest room?

Sighing in relief, Natsu trudged into his room only to find the said house guest, "What the hell?!"

"Language, brother," Zeref briefly looked up from one of Natsu's old sketchpads to glance over his younger brother, "it is appropriate to announce your arrival once you have entered the house."

"Yeah well, we don't do that here," he threw his book bag onto his bed and grabbed the books Zeref was looking at, "and who said you could look at these?!"

"Before Mother left this morning, she said to make myself comfortable. And I am here to learn about you, so naturally your room is where I began," Zeref spun the desk chair he was in to look directly at Natsu's bookcase, "you have quite the collection of magazines with scantily clad women. Does Mother know of this?"

A volcano erupting could rival the steam coming from Natsu's ears, "NO SHE DOESN'T AND YOU WON'T TELL HER!"

He ran to said bookcase and moved things around to hide the magazines. He prayed that neither his mom nor Lucy ever saw these. Stupid Loke for getting him a subscription!

"I won't betray your trust, Natsu," Zeref stood, the creepy smile still plastered on his face, "not like our mother did to you."

"What are you talking about?"

Zeref slowly walked to the shelf holding all of Natsu's ribbons and trophy's, he gazed at them fondly. Without missing a beat he said, "Why, she neglected to tell you of me. After all, I knew of you since the moment you were born. Father desperately wanted Mother to stay and raise you alongside us in Alvarez, but she chose to return to her home. And she never told you about me. I'd say that is a great betrayal."

"I never gave a damn about who my father was," Natsu gripped the back of desk chair to stop from charging, no one disrespected his mother that way, "and I really don't care that I have a brother either. So no, she didn't betray me. She gave me the best damn life she could."

"You would have had a much better life in Alvarez," Zeref stopped his wondering and stood directly in front of Natsu, still smiling.

Natsu growled back, "I doubt it."

"Oh I'm positive of it. Have you heard much of the royal family in Alvarez?"

"Sorta."

Zeref made a face, whether in how he said it or his lack of knowledge, Natsu didn't know nor care.

"Alvarez is a small nation. The royal family has the majority of power. The 12 leaders of the army all answer directly to the king. They are called the Spriggan 12, as they all hail from the 12 different areas of Alvarez. The religion-"

"I ain't asking for a history lesson! Get to the point."

Zeref flinched at being interrupted. But to Natsu's great disappointment, he continued, "As I was saying, the royal family makes all the decisions of the country. The King is not married, but he does have a son, the crown prince. The prince was recently married to a woman from Fiore."

"Yeah? I did hear about that. Guess it was because she was from here. What's all this got to do with Mom 'betraying' me?" Natsu crossed his arms, ready for this to be over.

"Why, you're staring at the crown prince," Zeref said so matter-of-factly.

The room stood still for just a moment, before the world spun, "Wha… What?"

"That's right, I am the crown prince of Alvarez. Father is the ruler himself over an entire nation, had you stayed with us you would have wanted for nothing your whole life."

The pink haired teen had to sit down to process what he was just told, "It's not true, how the hell is that true?"

Zeref pulled out his wallet and reached in to show Natsu his ID, "No lies here, brother."

The ID was fancy, with his title right above his name.

"Serious? You're a _prince_?"

"Me?" Zeref chuckled a bit, "Natsu, _you_ are a prince too. Your father is the King."

A prince? Him? He couldn't be a prince, too many rules and restrictions. So staring right at Zeref's smug face, he laughed, "No way. No way in hell would I want to be a snotty nosed brat of a prince. I'd never want to turn out like YOU!"

"Well you are, indeed, a prince. It is your birthright. And that is why I am here."

"Huh?" Natsu had begun to reach for the door to throw his brothers royal pain in the ass out, but he was honestly curious now.

"I am here to ask you to come home, to Alvarez."

"My home is here," Natsu stood his ground. Zeref may have 6 years on him, but a life in a royal castle was most likely nothing on a life to an athlete. He could take him.

"Father personally asked for you to come and meet him."

"He can come here if he wants to meet me so bad."

"He cannot neglect his country."

"And I can't ignore my schoolwork."

Zeref sighed, he had begged his wife, Mavis, to come. She was a master at getting things to go her way.

"You need to come and meet him and consider your options."

"What options? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Language, please. You are a prince, you should act like one."

"Like FUCK I'm a prince!" Natsu slammed his fist into the wall, making a large dent, "I wasn't raised to be a prince. I was raised to be Natsu Dragneel! A kid from Magnolia whose gonna be an awesome Engineer one day, paying for college playing soccer, fighting for best artist with Gray, and being Lucy Heartfilia's boyfriend!"

Zeref tried to speak but was once again interrupted, "So don't tell me to start acting like something I'm not. I'll never accept you as my brother, or some king I don't give a damn about as my father. I'm staying right here!"

Zeref narrowed his eyes, undeterred, "I'll give you until the end of the week for your answer," he glided out of the room, "I would have a chat with Mother soon, about why she chose to leave our father. Maybe then you will understand why I believe that she betrayed you."

And with that, Natsu was finally alone.

He grimaced when he took another glance at the wall, his mom was going to kill him.

He sat back down into his chair. He took a good look at his trophy's, all the sports festival ribbons, science fair ribbons, eating contest ribbons. Right next to the shelf was a bulletin board full of photos, it had pictures from the start of high school up till now.

One of him and guys dressed as the strippers from _Magic Mike_ for Halloween, Juvia passed out from seeing Gray covered in body glitter. The whole group sitting in the stands at the last football game of the season. All the dress up days from Homecoming week. Erza's annual Christmas party. And finally his favorite.

He smiled as he looked at it. It was a picture of him and Lucy at the pumpkin farm back in the fall. They had been messing around like they always did and somehow fell into a bale of hay. She had straws sticking in her hair and her hat, so did he. She had laughed so much at their appearance she just had to take a picture. That's what he loved so much about Lucy. Her father was the mayor, but she didn't let that stop her from being his friend and enjoying life with him. She wasn't a snobby rich kid like Zeref.

He shook his head, and he had actually considered asking Zeref for girl advice?

Looking around again, he saw little things that had huge memories attached to them. If he had grown up in Alvarez, he wouldn't have all this. He wouldn't have his friends, he wouldn't have Lucy.

"Natsu! I'm home!" he heard his mom call from downstairs.

If he grew up in Alvarez, the relationship he had with his mom would be different.

He needed to know why she never told him. He knows she had a good reason. He already decided to not go, but he at least needed to know why. He prayed she had a good reason.

"Hey! I'm coming!" he ran into the hall and slid down the banister, "What's for supper?"

* * *

I'm rusty, hahah. it's been a long time since i've wrote for my dragonslayer. I've missed my fire boy.

Origianlly this was going to be a one to two shot. but since it's been a while I thought I'd just start writing and see where I get. I think this'll have one more chapter. After it I can get to my others that need attention (*cough*Love,Blood,and,Fur*cough*IceIceBaby*cough*).

So review and tell me if I need to practice haha. see ya!

Love Smile


	3. What happened in Alvarez

Yay! Back with the next update. Thanks for the support on me coming back! I'm so thankful for you guys loving my writing so much :)

I literally cried while writing a portion of this chapter. It's not exactly sad but... you'll see!

 _Fairy Tail_ and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima

* * *

A week passed and Zeref didn't bring anything back up about Natsu going home with him, he seemed to focus on getting a better relationship with Elena. But Natsu did a good job on keeping away from him, so he really never got a chance.

The teen reclined back on the couch, watching his mom and brother rekindle whatever kind of relationship they had before he was born. He still didn't know why she left.

" _I can't even think of anything that would make her leave. She always said dad was a good guy…"_ Natsu had an open group chat with his friends, keeping them up to date on everything. He kept quiet on his brother being the prince of Alvarez. He would tell them when Zeref left, he didn't want them asking all kinds of crap about him being a prince too.

 _ **PING**_

A text came from someone outside the group text. He clicked out and saw that Lucy messaged him.

His face heated up, his cheeks flushing slowly. He always got shy when texting Lucy, she was his best friend! He didn't understand why a private conversation with her where no one else could interrupt or be a part of would embarrass him.

 **Lucy [key emoji]:** _soooooooo…. I got asked to the prom_

"What…" Natsu felt his heart drop. With everything going on with Zeref and trying to find out why his mom hid everything; he had almost forgot about asking Lucy to be his date.

"What was that, hun?" Elena faced her youngest with a strained smile, unbeknownst to Natsu, she very much couldn't wait for Zeref to leave as well.

"No-Nothing!"

"Hm," the dark-haired mother-of-two tilted her head, not believing him for a second. He looked rather pale and his eyes were wider than usual, "if you say so. What do you want for dinner?"

"Father always mentioned how good of a cook you were in college," Zeref stood and extended a hand to her, "why not a meal you made for him on one of your few dates?"

Elena let go of his hand as soon as she was on her feet. Anytime her ex-husband was mentioned, a jab was sent hers. Zeref practically worshiped his father, he may appear kind, but he obviously held some disdain for her.

"I think a stew will suffice"

"Excellent," Zeref followed her into the kitchen, "may I watch? Father never allowed me to spend much time with our cooks and Mavis prefers to have dinner ready when I return home each night."

" _Spoiled him to the bone, didn't you you old bat,"_ the boys' mother was saddened at the state Zeref was in now, especially since there was nothing she could have done about it.

As soon as they were out of the room, Natsu fired off a few hundred text to Gray, desperate to know who was trying to ask Lucy out.

 **Gray [snowflake emoji] [middle finger emoji]:** _DUDE. CHILL. I have no idea who asked her. Maybe if you asked her months ago like I TOLD YOU TO this wouldn't have happened._

Natsu growled, practically hearing the argument in Gray's voice. He went to reply when he got another text from Lucy.

 **Lucy [key emoji]:** _It was so awkward; he doesn't even like me. Told me he was only asking me because he knew how much it would mess with you. Lol. Weird right?_

Gaping, Natsu quickly copied it and sent it to Gray.

 **Gray [snowflake emoji] [middle finger emoji]:** _Whoa. Now that's hilarious._

"Stupid popsicle," Natsu mumbled when Gray sent one more.

 **Gray [snowflake emoji] [middle finger emoji]:** _So did she say yes?_

Natsu was too scared to ask. What if she did say yes? The way she was talking sounded like she didn't. But… she really wants to go to the prom. And there were only so many weeks left for her to get a dress and stuff, what if she said yes because no one else asked her?

Sighing, he sent a simple 'IDK' to Gray before turning his attention back to his conversation with Lucy. She had sent another message as he was talking to Gray.

 **Lucy [key emoji]:** _I told him no though. I want to go and hang out with my friends, then him and his friends. That would be no fun! [laughing emoji]. Besides, if I went with him I wouldn't be able to dance with you. You do owe me a dance you know! Since you had a broken ankle at homecoming._

He… had actually forgotten about that. That was enough to get a shaky smile out of him though. She wanted to dance with him. She wanted to dance with HIM. She wanted to dance with him!

"YES!" Natsu jumped off the couch with his arms raised, "Suck it loser! She wants to dance with me!"

"And who is this 'she' you are referring to."

Natsu jerked as his brothers sickeningly sweet voice came from the kitchen doorway. A sly smile was on his perfect looking face.

"A… a friend of mine," Natsu put his phone in his pocket, almost afraid Zeref would read his messages, "why do you care?"

"I care about you, little brother. I want to know everything about you, I believe I've already told you this."

"Well you ain't gotta know about my friends."

"I most certainly do, they are spending time with royalty," Zeref raised his right hand, showing off the ring he wore with the Alvarez royal family crest on it. The same crest Natsu apparently shared, "I need to make sure they are worthy."

"WHAT?! Worthy-" Natsu was about to pounce on his so called brother for insulting his friends when their mother stepped in.

"Ok, enough," she spoke in a tone that reminded Natsu of when she called the day Zeref arrived, someone trained to be regal, "Zeref, the stew is ready."

"Ah, thank you Mother," Zeref smiled again at Natsu before disappearing into the other room.

"Did you hear what he said?! He just said my friends weren't worthy-"

"Natsu."

"Like hell they aren't! I don't give a damn if I'm a Kings son, why should that matter-"

"Natsu! Listen to me."

"But mom! He can't just insult people like that!"

"I know that," She placed her hands on Natsu's shoulders, forcing him to listen, "I think it's time I told you why I left Alvarez."

Natsu blinked up at her, seeing the sadness in her eyes, "Ok mom."

A few minutes later, the two were in the backyard in Natsu's tree house that he had built with Uncle Igneel. He, Gray, and Gajeel had spent their summers in this tree. He had brought Lucy out here hundreds of times to watch movies. It was where his mom always came to find him after a fight. And now it was where she would reveal her biggest secret.

She handed him a bowl of stew and let them both get settled on the pillows before starting.

"I love your father."

Natsu stirred his stew, waiting.

"I met him in college, I went for a dance degree and he for business. I've told you all this before. When we graduated, we moved to Alvarez to be with his family," she sighed heavily, "what I never mentioned was his family was the royal family. And that I had Zeref when I was nearly 20. I had to miss a year of school and graduated a year later than planned."

"I don't regret it though," she smiled as she looked at all the artwork that had been painted on the walls over the years, she didn't regret anything.

Natsu knew she had skipped a year, but Igneel had messed with him and said she took a year off to be an exotic dancer. He was 7 and didn't understand what that meant, only that Igneel would always get smacked by his mom and Aunt Grandina for it. He didn't know it was for a baby.

"Alvarez is a beautiful place. Nothing like Fiore, but still beautiful. Your father, Zero, had kept it a secret all through school that he was royalty. Even when I told him I was pregnant, he just said his mother would be upset, but he was thrilled. He stayed with me during the school year I had to redo before taking us all to Alvarez. We married shortly after I found out about your brother. A small ceremony with friends and my parents."

Natsu couldn't see where this was going. It sounded like his parents were in love.

"We were happy for the years we were here, just us and Zeref," she closed her eyes and said, "everything changed when we got to Alvarez."

"Zero's mother, the Queen, your grandmother, was not just upset. She was furious."

"She demanded to know why her son had a child with a Fiorian woman without telling her. Why he had marred me and kept the child. He could have come home and left us there, the world didn't have to know about Zeref."

Natsu snarled, not liking this woman one bit.

"Zero's relationship with his mother had always been strained. Her always striving for perfection and him wanting freedom. It's why he chose to go to school in Fiore and neglect telling people who he really was. Alvarez media is forbidden to post pictures of the royal family if they are underage, so it was a good plan."

"Zeref was three when we arrived there and was immediately taken under your grandmothers wing to be bred for royalty. I no longer had a say in my sons life."

"What? How could she do that?"

"Simple," Elena scooted over so she could wrap an arm around her boy, "I wasn't an Alvarez citizen. Your father was still single according to the Alvarez media. She could do whatever she wanted. I wasn't allowed to leave the palace, period. No one was to know who I was until she said it was alright. If I had stayed, she most likely would have bribed me into divorcing your father and leaving, telling the media that Zeref was an illegitimate child the Queen was taking out of pity."

"But…"

"I'm almost done," she bumped her forehead with his, realizing he had done that with Lucy a lot. He must have picked it up from her, "Zero apologized to me a thousand times it seemed. His father had died when he was young, so his mother was all he had. Zeref was no longer our child, but your grandmothers' heir. I was happy to stay by Zero's side. Willing to be a silent wife, as long as I had him and we could figure out a way to leave the palace one day."

Something in Natsu told him he was the reason at least one of them left.

Elena must have read his mind, she nodded and said, "Then I found out about you."

"Oh, Zero was so excited. The whole palace knew something was going on just by his positive energy alone," she grinned, thinking back on those days, "but unfortunately, those days didn't last. Your grandmother fell ill. She was hospitalized for a month. When she was able to come home, her first words were to tell the staff to get ready for Zero's coronation to be King."

"Oh…"

"Yeah," she hugged Natsu a little tighter, "your dad had been planning on telling her that he wanted to move back to Fiore with me so we could raise you and give you a normal life. He didn't want to leave Zeref, neither did I, but neither of us wanted a life in the palace where we couldn't be seen as a family. He wasn't going to take no for an answer. But, now he had no choice."

"Within a week of her coming home, she had taken off her crown and forced it onto her sons head. Zeref was announced to the world as the illegitimate crown prince and I was no where to be seen that day. I was forbidden to come to the ceremony or the party afterwards."

"The Queen came directly to me later on, saying I could stay since I was Zeref's mother. But she told me to my face that I would never be allowed to work or be recognized as related to the King or Prince. She also let me know how much she despised me."

"That bitch."

"Hey, language kid," she poked his stomach, "but yes. It was a horrible situation. There I was, three months pregnant and I was told I wasn't wanted by my child's grandmother. I didn't know what I would do, not even when Zero told me to come back to Fiore."

Elena felt her eyes start to water, remembering how much she didn't want to leave him, "He told me he never wanted this life for himself, us, or our children. But if he could do anything, he would make sure his second child never felt the pressure of the throne. He wanted you to have the normal life he dreamed for you. He loves you, Natsu."

Elena pointed to a toy chest in the corner, "That box was a present from your dad. Every year he sent you a birthday gift. He sent cards too, I still have those," she bowed her head in shame, "I planned on telling you everything after you graduated high school. That's why I never said anything much about him, I didn't want you to ask questions and go snooping. Your dad and I write letters to each other once a month and talk on the phone every few weeks. He wants to know everything about you, son."

"You… still talk to him?"

"Yes," Elena blushed a little at how excited she gets when she opens a new letter or sees his name pop up on her phone, "we are… still married after all."

"What?! You're still married?! And you haven't even seen the guy in like… 17 years?!"

"Yes, even though we decided to part, we also couldn't bear the thought of not being together. So we chose to stay married. We can't show it on paper of course, but I still have our marriage certificate in the back of one of those filling cabinets. And this," she played with the slim ring she always wore on her right ring finger, "this is my wedding band. My engagement ring is hidden away, but I always wear this. So a piece of him is always with me."

"But why," Natsu still didn't understand, why would she leave someone she so clearly still loves.

"Because of you, sweetheart."

"But…"

"Elena shook her head, both Zero and I vowed to give you the best life we wanted you to have. It took your dad literal weeks to get me to agree to coming back here. He finally got me when he said 'I want him to grow up loving life just like you do. And if I ever get the chance to meet him, I promise I'll make up for however long I missed out on. Just please, give him the life he deserves'."

Natsu felt a lump in his throat, he never knew how much he wanted to know what his father thought of him until now.

"He loves you. He tells me in every letter and in every phone call," Elena wiped away a stray tear on his face, "And, I actually saw him not long ago."

"Huh? You did?"

"Yeah, remember two years ago? My dance team made to the international tournament?"

"Oh yeah, you had to go to Veronica* for that."

"I did, Princess Hisui came to watch the tournament. A team in Alvarez was competing too, so your father came to watch."

"You saw him there?"

"I did, I had no idea he was coming. But I had mentioned my team in a letter, and he must have been watching. He came to support his country's team. But his real objective was to see me," she shook her head in embarrassment, "he sent a letter to my room asking me to meet him at a restaurant. I was expecting tons of people there to see him and a few guards. But he had tricked his guards, telling them he was going to bed early and snuck out in a God-awful costume, maybe that's where your horrible Halloween costume ideas come from."

"HEY!" Natsu snickered, now liking the thought of him having something in common with his Dad, "My costumes are cool!"

"Sure," she giggled, "we had dinner and spent the whole evening together. It was wonderful to see him and spend those few hours together. I felt like I was back in college."

"You had sex, didn't you."

"How rude! Don't ask your mother that!" Elena scolded, but couldn't help the huge _YES_ in her head. Not like she wanted to have that discussion with her teenager.

"But I still don't get it," Natsu faced his mother head on, "Zeref said that dad personally asked him to come here and tell me to come to Alvarez and consider my options. I don't even know what 'options' he's talking about!"

Elena shook her head, "No, he did not."

"Then why did he say that…"

"I called your father the night he showed up. He had no idea Zeref had even left the country. Your grandmother runs things behind the scenes now and somehow found out about you. We didn't tell her that's why I left, after all. I'm betting she sent Zeref here to find out as much as he could before reporting to her and forcing you to come to Alvarez."

"But I don't wanna go to Alvarez!"

"You won't have to, Natsu. You'll be 18 this summer. After that she won't have a say."

"Can't you tell Zeref I'm someone else's kid?"

"That won't work," she reached up and tugged on a spiky piece of hair, "you have your fathers' natural pink hair."

Natsu huffed, crossing his arms in an attempt to figure out a way to stay far away from that woman.

"I would love it if you met your dad, though"

Natsu glanced up and found a fond smile on his mother's face, "I think you would really like him."

Natsu let out a shaky breath, gripping his jeans tight while replying, "For the first time in years, I think I actually wanna meet him."

Joy filled Elena's heart, "I'm so glad."

A timid smile stretched over Natsu's face, "Thanks for telling me about this, mom."

"Anything for you," she brought he son into a big hug, the same kind she has always given him. One filled with unconditional love, "now lets get back inside. Sitting on this wooden floor is not good for my back."

"OK old woman," Natsu snorted, dodging a smack to his head by jumping onto the ladder.

When they both made it to the ground, Elena threw an arm around her son, happy to finally have it all out in the open.

"Hey mom," the pink haired teen looked up at her, "one day, could you tell me about you guys from back in college?"

The Dragneel family smile stretched across her face, "I would love to!"

A slight blush crossed her cheeks, "Ok."

She ruffled his pink locks, "But first, lets get you a date to the prom with Lucy."

"Mooommmmmm!"

* * *

This chapter was heavy on the dialogue/storytelling/backstory. Sorry not much with Lucy! We'll get back to her and our fire boys main problem next chapter!

*Veronica was another country in _Fairy Tail._ It was in the movie Phoenix Priestess.

I was wanting this to be the last chapter but I didn't realize how long this part was going to be so it looks like we'll have one more chapter! I'll see you guys then!

Love Smile


	4. No More Secrets

It took longer than expected to get the last chapter out, but i'm finally getting it out to you guys and I couldn't be more excited!

Here is the final chapter to my beloved Mothers. I hope you like it!

 _Fairy Tail_ and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima.

* * *

"Lucy!"

The blonde teen turned at the call of her name, "Ms. Elena!"

"I've told you to call me just Elena," she scoffed, hugging the girl, "or mom, whichever you prefer."

"HUH!?" Lucy turned scarlet at the thought of her being her 'mother'.

"So what brings you out here this evening?" Elena asked, following Lucy into the grocery store. It was the day after she explained everything to her son. She felt a million times better knowing she had zero secrets from him now. She even felt comfortable comparing him to his father, and actually saying it out loud for once.

"I need some snacks and stuff for my sleepover with Levy. We're doing a final cram session with all the girls before our last tests," Lucy held out a list for the older woman to see.

"Ah," the dance instructor nodded, "perhaps I should suggest that Natsu and the boys do that as well."

Lucy blushed a bit, "We were thinking about asking if the guys could come too. My house is big enough for everyone."

"How sweet of you Lucy," Elena hugged her (hopefully) future daughter-in-law, "but I think those boys will need to be somewhere without the opposite sex. No matter how focused they are on their studies, girls always come first in their heads."

"You're probably right," Lucy giggled, she walked with Elena to the back of the store to get drinks, "How are things with you? Natsu mentioned that his… brother was here."

Elena sighed, very thankful that Natsu had kept Zeref's status out the conversations with his friends, but she was also thankful that they all cared about how her baby was handling it, "Things are good, if not a little strained. Zeref was raised by his grandmother, and the old woman never liked me," Elena turned to Lucy with a kind yet sad smile, "I promise you their father is the best man I ever knew. I have no ill feelings toward him."

Lucy was shocked at the revelation, but smiled, grateful to know, "That's good. I was worried that Natsu had been stressing about it."

"Oh don't worry about him," a sly smirk covered the womans face, "let's worry more about the prom coming up in a few weeks. Have a dress yet? What color is it?"

"Oh, um!" Lucy grabbed a few different flavored sodas, not expecting to talk about the dance, "I-I-I do have a dress. But um! I don't have a date so I'll uh… probably just go with friends!"

Elena placed a few things in her cart, strolling next to the girl, "Oh well that's ok. There is still time to get a date. What color is your dress?"

"It's uh… burgundy. The top is darker, and the skirt almost looks crimson."

"Oh I bet it'll be beautiful on you!" She made a mental note to get a corsage and tie for Natsu that would match after she left here.

"Thank you," Lucy blushed, wishing that her son would say the same. She sighed, knowing he may not ever ask her to the prom.

"Don't worry about the date, hon," Elena winked at her, "you'll be dancing the night away in the arms of someone who adores you. Trust me."

Lucy wondered if the woman knew something she didn't.

"Anyway, it was good to see you! I've got to get some food for the growing dragon I have at home. I swear that boy would go through two weeks' worth of groceries in a day if I let him!"

The blonde laughed, knowing that it was no exaggeration, "It was good to see you too!"

Lucy watched Elena walk around the corner right as her phone rang.

"Hey Levy! I'm getting the stuff now and I'll be there soon!"

Meanwhile, at the Dragneel residence of two. Natsu was going to have some final words with his brother before his mom finished her weekly shopping trip.

"Zeref?" Natsu pounded on the guest rooms door. He crossed his arms as he waited. He was covered in sweat from training with Gray and Jellal, he hoped his appearance disgusted his brother.

The door creaked open, and Zeref came into view with a smug smile on his face, "Why hello little brother, welcome home. How can I help you?"

' _Geez, why does he have to be so damn happy all the time?'_ Natsu growled, "Yeah. I wanna talk to you."

"Then why don't we go and make ourselves comfortable in the living room? I can make some tea," Zeref pushed past Natsu to get into the hallway.

"You sure you know how, _your highness?"_

Zeref flinched at his siblings' tone, he glanced over his shoulder and saw Natsu glaring at him with pure hatred. It was unsettling.

Once settled with their hot drinks, Zeref turned to his brother, "Now, what would you like to talk about?"

Natsu put down his drink without taking a sip, he's never been a fan of it anyway, "I talked to Mom. She told me everything."

"Did she now?" Zeref spoke with such assurance that he was right, that Natsu would feel betrayed by his mother. How wrong he was.

"Yeah. She told me that our grandmother is a bitch. That she forced Dad to become king with an illegitimate child and pretty much told her she would never be anything. She couldn't even let people know she was married to him."

The moment his grandmother was brought up, Zeref stopped, _'Grandmother? She was never to be brought up. He isn't supposed to know about her.'_

"I see she's been telling you fairy tales," Zeref shrugged it off, "the truth is-"

"The truth is that Dad didn't even know you were here, and you're here because she sent you to find out about me."

"What?" Zeref placed his cup down, staring at Natsu. How did he know that Father didn't know about this trip? He told his father that he and Mavis were still in the 'honeymoon' stage and wanted some alone time.

"You've been wrong about everything. Mom told me the whole story, the truth. Maybe YOU are the one who needs to be asking about betrayal. Because I'm not the one who doesn't know who to trust," he stood, leaving his older brother in shock.

"I'll never go to Alvarez," Natsu stopped at the foot of the stairs to say, "I'll never meet that woman who raised you. I don't wanna. But... maybe one day I will meet my father. After all he did to make sure I grew up happy, it's the least I can do."

After a glance to see Zeref's confused face, Natsu went up to the bathroom to shower. Deep in his heart he felt bad for his brother. He didn't get to be raised by their awesome mom, and it's obvious that their father didn't get much of a say either. Maybe if they had things would have been different. Who knows what their lives would be like if all four of them could have lived here, in Magnolia, together.

"Well. It's too late for that kind of thinking."

Natsu turned the water as hot as it would go, happy that one mission was complete. Now it was time to move onto more pleasant things. Like _finally_ asking Lucy to be his date.

Under the rushing water, Natsu realized something very important, "WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY?!"

* * *

"Don't chicken out, pyro."

"Shut up!"

Gray snickered as he walked Juvia to the stands. It was the last practice of the year for the soccer team, and this was where Natsu decided to put his plan into action. Natsu watched his NOT-best friend take his new girlfriend to sit with their friends to watch. Next to the bluenette was Lucy. His sweet, beautiful, smart, kind, generous, talented, smoking-hot crush was sitting. She and Levy were gushing over some romance book they had read.

While Natsu was staring Lucy looked up and caught him. She smiled and waved at him, mouthing him a 'good luck!'.

He gulped, _'shit. I hope this works.'_

"Let's get started, runts!" Metalicanna yelled to the team. Gajeel's father was the best soccer coach Magnolia High School had ever had, he doubled as the Health teacher. And it was beyond hilarious to have Gajeel and Levy in the same sex-ed class. But being his nephew didn't help Natsu out either, especially since Lucy had been in his class, completely oblivious to his feelings of her.

Practice ran like normal, up to the end where they wound down with a mock game. Natsu was getting nervous. His plan was to make a huge announcement when he made a goal, and he always made a goal. It was just a matter of time.

"Woah! Natsu's all fired up today!" Levy clapped as the guys ran by them.

"He always is," Lucy didn't realize her voice had turned dreamy until Gajeel snorted.

"You gotta be so mushy? If ya wanna make out with him, then do it already! Tired of the mutual pinning."

"Gah!" Lucy covered her face, wanting to disappear even though Levy had started to reprimand her boyfriend.

"GOAL FOR THE RED TEAM!"

Lucy jumped up, "Yes! Way to go Natsu!"

Natsu smirked as he saw her excited for him, he was ready. He could do this. He wasn't gonna make a fool of himself. Lucy liked him. And even if she didn't they could go as friends. But that wasn't gonna happen cause she liked him. Yeah. No worries. This was gonna be ok.

"Yo! Listen up Dragons!"

The team and everyone in the stands had their eyes on him. Lucy sat down and tilted her head, unsure of what her best friend was doing.

"I got something I gotta say," he slowly ran to the stands, still on the field but close enough to where he wouldn't have to yell.

"Lucy," he began, his typical Dragneel grin on his face, "will you- GAHHHH!"

"NATSU!"

The soccer ball hit Natsu right on the back of the head, knocking him to the ground.

"Eucliffe!" Coach Redfox yelled as he made his way to his injured player, "what was that?"

"Sorry coach!" Sting raced over to his teammate, "It was an accident! Loke and I were passing it and it went right past me! Crap, I'm so sorry Natsu!"

"Uh, sure," the pink haired soccer player only saw stars. But he liked stars. Lucy liked stars. He liked Lucy. Did Lucy say she'd be his date? He didn't get to hear her answer. Was that a dragon star? That was a pretty star.

"He'll be fine," Metalicanna pulled Natsu up, "but you're gonna sit out for a bit. You hear me Natsu?"

"Sure. I'll be good. I'll go dance."

The coach laughed under his breath, "Gajeel go and get an ice pack. Let this knucklehead lie down until his senses come back to him."

"Why me, Pops?"

"'Cause I said so!" with Gray's help, they laid Natsu down on the ground next to the benches, "Take yer girlfriend with if ya want, but go!"

"I'll keep an eye on him," Lucy gently placed Natsu's head in her lap, avoiding the wiggle in Gray's eyebrows.

"Thanks Lucy, back to practice now!"

Onyx eyes opened to see pretty brown staring down at him.

"Woah," Natsu's face lit up, as if he was seeing Lucy for the first time.

"You OK? Feel dizzy or anything?" Lucy tucked a blonde strand behind her ear. Her heart was still beating fast over what he was trying to say before he got hit.

"Yeah, I'm perfect."

She giggled, "Well that's good. But tell me if you feel like you need to be checked out by the nurse, OK?"

"Nah, I just wanna be checked out by you."

"I'm not a nurse, Natsu!" Lucy's cheeks flushed even more, Natsu was staring at her with such intensity.

He kept staring, turning his head a little from side to side, in awe of her, "I get to take you to the prom?"

"Huh?!" Lucy raised her hands to her face, "What?!"

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world."

"Natsu-! Are you asking- Natsu?"

"We're back! Here's the ice pack Lucy, and I've got some pain killers too. Oh, is he asleep?"

Lucy couldn't help but laugh, of course this would happen. It was Natsu, after all, "Yeah, Lev. He's asleep. He's fine though, he was talking. But thanks. He'll need those when he wakes up."

An hour later, Natsu woke up from his nap with a throbbing headache, "Ow."

"Here," a water bottle and pills appeared in front of his face.

"Thanks," he guzzled them down and the looked to see who was with him, "Oh, Lucy."

"That's me," she smiled at him, her blush had finally gone away.

"What happened? Where is everyone?" The sun was going down and the field was empty save for the two of them.

"You got hit in the head by a ball. You've been asleep since, practice is over so Metalicanna sent everyone home. He wants you to call him when you wake up, to make sure you're ok."

"Damn, I missed the whole practice?! And it was the last one of the year!"

Lucy loved Natsu's pouty face. It was so cute, "I know. But you'll get to have practice with the University team soon. So don't worry about it."

"Yeah, won't be the same tho," Natsu crawled towards her and put his face on her lap, wrapping his arms around her, "thanks for staying with me."

"And leave you alone when you could have a concussion? No way!" she played with the pink locks, massaging his head. It somewhat relieved his headache.

"Yeah but you coulda went home and left me with Gray. I'm glad ya didn't."

"Well duh," she scratched his head, loving the sounds of pleasure he made.

It wasn't long before the pair got up and headed to their cars. The sun was still up, but the lights in the parking lot were on now. They were completely alone at the school.

"Man, mom's gonna kill me."

"I think Metalicanna called her and told her what happened," Lucy threw her stuff into her backseat, "but you are still going to get a thorough looking over when you get home."

"Yeah, yeah," Natsu followed her lead, leaning on the car next to her when he was done.

"So," Lucy started fidgeting.

"So?" Natsu lifted one arm to the top of the car behind her.

She blushed, smiled and finally asked "I'm your date to the prom?"

Natsu's brain shut off. What? He never got the chance to ask her. The ball hit him before he got to.

"Wha-what?"

Lucy's smile faded, she looked down to the ground and shook her head, "Never-nevermind."

"NO!" Natsu jumped. He hated, ABSOLUTELY HATED seeing Lucy upset, "I want you to be my date! Crap I! I been wanting to ask ya for weeks! Months! YEARS LUCE! All this crap with Zeref made me too stressed to think about it. BUT NO! You're more important than him! I've been worried about shit and and and and and… GAHHHH!"

He pulled on his hair, leaning back so he wouldn't see any tears. God, he hated when she cried.

"I was gonna ask ya right before that damn ball hit me! It was gonna be so epic to! NO! Romantic. It was gonna be romantic like ya always wanted and SHIT! It got messed up! I'm sorry Lucy! I'm always gonna be a loser who can never tell the girl how he feels…"

"You mean how you're the luckiest guy in the world to go with me to the prom?"

Natsu jerked around to see her smiling face, "Huh?"

"Right when the coach put you on the sidelines, you started saying some pretty weird stuff. Like how you wanted only me to check you out and that you couldn't believe you were taking me to the prom."

"I… what?"

Lucy took a step towards him, up in his space now, "Your mom already knows what color my dress is. She was being nosy the last time I saw her. All that's left is for you to realize what it all means."

It took seconds for Natsu's head to catch up with his heart. It took a few more before he got the point.

"So… you'll be my date?"

"I'll be your date."

"You like me?"

"I like you."

Natsu got bolder with every word, he wrapped his arms around Lucy's petite waist and asked one more question.

"You'll be my girlfriend?"

Pink tinted Lucy's already pretty cheeks as she shyly answered, "I'll be your girlfriend."

The sun dipped down, coating the city into darkness as the pair shared their first kiss in the empty parking lot.

* * *

Natsu was still on cloud 9 when he walked into his house an hour later. Lucy's lips were the softest thing he had ever felt. He never wanted to stop kissing her. Or holding her. Or telling her how amazing she was.

"Natsu? You're late, I've been worried sick about you!"

Natsu blinked a few times to come back to reality, his mother was standing in front of him with her worry set deep in her eyes.

"I'm fine, Mom. I'm sorry I didn't call ya."

"Let me see," she held his head tenderly as she checked for bruises, "look at me."

After determining that he was concussion free, she hugged him, "Don't scare me like that."

He wrapped his arm around her, "Sorry, Mom."

"Now," she led him to the kitchen so she could feed him, "how did it go with Lucy? Metalface told me she stayed behind to watch you."

Natsu snickered at the nickname, "Yeah… everything went great."

She turned from the refrigerator to pout, "Oh come on! I want some details, son!"

Natsu scratched the back of his head, laughing a bit. It was a trait that Elena just now realized that he shared with his father. She smiled as she could see a younger Zero in her Natsu.

"Well, she's my girlfriend now… so…" he blushed, just saying it was wonderful.

The loud squeal of his mother could probably be heard all the way at the Alvarez palace.

"Sweetheart, I'm so happy for you! I'm going to have the cutest grandbabies EVER!"

"Grandbabies?" Natsu felt like he had just eaten the world's hottest pepper by how hot his face felt.

"Not now, of course," she grinned, putting a plate of leftovers in front of him, "you're graduating college first, young man."

He snorted, "Yes ma'am."

Zeref watched them from the bottom of the staircase. It was the first time in his life that he felt envious. Envious of the relationship his brother had with their mother. As close as he was to their grandmother, he never felt like they had a bond. And he was never alone with his father to talk about things like relationships.

"Perhaps you were right brother," Zeref removed the ring with their family crest, "it looks like I'm the one who was betrayed."

Pocketing the ring, Zeref went back to his guest room to pack so he could return home.

A few weeks later, Elena was making last minute adjustments to Natsu's suit. The pink corsage still safe in its box.

"I thought you said he dress was red. Why'd you get a pink flower?"

"Because this way it'll stand out more," she ran the lint roller over his shoulders again, "but still match this mop you call a hairstyle."

"IT'S COOL!"

"Uh-huh," Elena stepped back and got a good look at him. He wasn't her baby anymore. He was nearly grown, on his way to a dance with a girl who she prayed would be her daughter-in-law in a few years.

"Mom," Natsu pulled out his phone, grinning, "let's take a picture."

"Of course, baby," oh screw it. He would always be her baby.

A few selfies later, Elena was following him out the front door, "Make sure Layla knows to send me pictures of you two."

"I'll let her know."

"And don't even THINK about going to a hotel afterwards."

Natsu gulped, "That didn't even cross my mind!"

Elena raised a brow, "Sure it didn't."

"Mommmm!"

A knock on the door interrupted Natsu's whining.

"Are any of your friends coming here?"

"No, we're meeting at the restaurant," Natsu shrugged. Not knowing who it was.

His mother opened the door and immediately stepped back.

"Mom?"

Elena felt tears running down her face, alerting Natsu until she said, "Zero?"

A brute of a man stepped inside their humble home. Pink hair shaved except for a small patch of spikey bangs. His clothing looked normal for someone who was supposedly the king of a nation.

Natsu watched as his mother embraced his father. He couldn't help but stare at the man. Once he was interested in knowing him, for a while he hated thinking about meeting him, and for the last few weeks he'd been thinking about going to Alvarez before he started school in the fall.

But the man was here, in their living room.

Still holding onto Elena, Zero cast his gaze to his youngest son, "Hello, Natsu. I'm so glad I finally get to meet you."

The smaller pinkette had no words, he just nodded.

His father smirked, "It appears though, I've come at a bad time," he motioned to Natsu's suit and box of flowers he was holding.

"Oh, uh, wait. What are you doing here?" Elena stepped back, but not out of arms reach.

"A few things have changed in Alvarez," he reached out to hold her hand, "but I just wanted to see you. And meet our son."

"Oh, well um," Elena looked back and forth between her boys, at a lost on what to do.

"Natsu, I can't wait to get to know you," Zero held out his hand for Natsu to take, which he did, "but you must have a young lady waiting on you. I won't hold you back from her. Go and enjoy your evening. We can start our introductions tomorrow morning."

Still holding the man's hand, Natsu could easily see how he was royalty. He was majestic.

"Are you sure?" The teen asked, "You came all this way."

Zero shook his head, "I didn't come to disrupt your life. And besides," he held his other hand towards Elena, "I can spend this evening with my _wife_."

The smile on his mother's face was all Natsu needed to make up his mind.

"Yosh!" He gave his father one last handshake before kissing his mother on the cheek and running to the door, "I'll be back by midnight!"

Before the door closed, he came back and said, "And don't even THINK about-"

"Natsu!"

The fiery teen burst out laughing as he jumped in his car. The grin was still on his face when he pulled into the Heartfilia driveway.

He took a few steadying breaths before ringing the doorbell.

Layla opened the door and ushered him inside. Jude was sitting in his recliner with his arms crossed, trying to look upset about Natsu taking out his daughter. But could hardly keep it up as his wife kept gushing about good Lucy's date looked and how good they would look together.

"Lucy! Your date is here, darling!" Layla had her hands on Natsu's shoulders, holding his gaze to the staircase.

His jaw dropped and his mouth ran dry as Lucy descended the stairs. She was breathtaking. Nothing could have prepared him for this.

"Hi," she greeted him once she was in front of him.

"H-Hi," he choked on his own spit. She looked like a real princess in that dress. He may have a king for a father, but he felt so unworthy to be her date.

"Is this for me?" she pointed to the box in his hand.

He nodded, not saying anything as he strapped the flower to her wrist.

"Ohhh, Jude look at them!" Layla gushed, holding onto her husband's arm.

"Oh, Mama," Lucy pulled out her own flower and secured it to Natsu's jacket. It too was pink, but had a scarlet rose along with it.

"Pictures!" Layla pulled the two into the living room to get about twenty photos of the pair before sending them off.

"Oh, uh, Mom wanted you to send them to her, the pictures," Natsu told Lucy's mother as he walked his date to the door.

"As soon as you two are out the door that's what I plan on doing," Layla held the door open for them.

"Bye Mom, bye Daddy!" Lucy called, carefully walking down the steps of their front porch.

"Natsu," Layla called before he could join his date, "I trust you to take care of her."

The gentle smile that he always saw on Lucy was on her mothers face. The trust and love shone from her eyes.

"No worries, Mrs. Layla," Natsu nodded his head, "Lucy will always be safe with me."

Layla smiled as she closed the door, allowing Natsu to follow behind and smoothly open the door for Lucy before she got there. As she walked to him and looked to the sky, closing his eyes and saying a small prayer.

Lucy kissed his cheek now that they were alone, "What was that?"

"Nothing," he stepped towards her and placed his forehead on hers, "just thanking God for our mothers."

* * *

If you're here, then I love you for being on this oh so long journey with me. This is the first fanfic I have finished in a long time and I am so excited! I can't wait to start the next update!

And yes, this is the final chapter. Do I want to write a chapter about Natsu and his Father? Absolutely. But if I do it'll be after a few other fics have been updated. This is where this story was always intended to end, and here we are. Took over a year, but it's done.

Thank you guys for being so patient with me and still waiting for me to post after all my time away :') it means the absolute world to me.

**If you're curious about Lucy's dress go to my profile and check out the link!

Thanks again for reading this. I appreciate you all.

Love always, Smile


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